It’s not obvious, but when I suddenly had 91 energy surge analytics in my data storage after one or two spire visits and noticing it as a popup during a chain of the shutdowns… well, it was pretty clear then.
I assume you still get them now. Don’t see why you wouldn’t, but definitely much more convenient. (And make sure the site is active, of course.)
Ok, I have to ask: if I land and let Banshees spam with me shutdown pulses, will I ever be able to take off again? Do the Banshees approach/attack the ship with other weapons? Just wondering if I need to go in with a beefy ship and/or one with a TG Pulse Neutralizer. Or should I go in with a cheap ship and just let it get wrecked?
I also believe it is determined by the layout, based on my (somewhat limited) experience.
Using the naming scheme of the above mentioned
Odyssey Map Guide, it appears that layouts Military-1, Military-2, and Military-3 do have a Banshee, while Military-5 does not. I do not recall doing an AX mission in Military-4 yet.
By the way, Military-1 shows in the nav panel as tiny (i.e. no plus signs), -3 and -5 are small (+) and -2 is medium (++). I assume -4 is tiny as well.
I've noticed the same pattern with the layouts. Speaking of which, I could've sworn Inara (or maybe EDSM) showed the map type for every settlement when you looked them up. They didn't have the details of the OMG site referenced earlier in the thread, but just seeing an image of the basic layout was all an experience player needs to determine whether a mission is worth it or not.
I currently can't access that site where I'm from, but whichever one has the large command building/attached reactor/and only one entrance facing a courtyard with two landing bays with two individual hab buildings on the other side - yeah, I hate that base. I've always hated missions at that base regardless of whether it was in Thargoid or Human control. That single entry point, with little cover, always makes it a pain and increases the chances of mistake leading to mission failure. Though for a military base, I can't fault that design. All the others have multiple entrances and/or plenty of buildings to skulk around. But that one... ugh, I hate getting missions to those. And yes, Banshees are found there... huzzah!
The Cutter build in that
rescue video earlier was
this one but with extra Hull in place of one of the class 6 cargo. Since then, I have now
512 cargo and using B-rated Collector limpets for range over longevity, minding that losing the Universal limpet means also no repairing. Use that once more comfortable with when and where the patrolling Thargoids will attack or not!
I'll have to compare that build to Anaconda build from Mechan's guide and then decide which to use. Not in a rush...
Yep, this tends to be my favourite method. I use my anti-scout Krait, just replaced three of the AX multis with AX missiles, get up close (the banshee is happy to oblige!) and start unloading into it point blank. It's surprising how many missiles the things soak up!
(and welcome back,
@Daniel Cloudsifter, hope all is good!)
Ok, so if you replaced the AX multis with missiles, how are you getting past the Glaives? I've been getting interdicted, and hyperdicted, by them a LOT. I either use my Federal Dropship - which can kill up to two glaives in and instance and then repair itself - or my iCourier which outruns everything. Are you using ECM to jam their FSD reboot missiles and then high waking away?
I've been quite happily dispatching Banshees are Revenants for the past few days with my G5 Executioner (scope, reload speed, audio mask, stability). Only two times something went wrong was I accidentally jumped into the middle of Banshee mine barrage (it was hovering over the building and I got impatient and jumped up right into the middle of the mines) and when I alerted all the forces by trying to snipe a Revenant too far away and the damage falloff let it survive the shot. I've engineered a third Executioner up to G5 and have finally collected the mats needed for its enhancements (scope, stability, magazine increase, greater range); that should take care of my range/damage fall off problem.
And thanks for asking, I've been doing well. I was just "away" as I was focused on Starfield from the minute it prelaunched up until a couple of weeks ago. I'll be hopping back and forth between both games (and NMS). I'd just been away long enough that I missed significant changes to the Thargoids and, even though I kept up with youtube guides, still needed some info.
At some point, I might even try the Orthus farming at Spire sites. I hear that is better in groups, so I may check your Discord group about that when I do it. Hope all is well with you too.